Boulder companies see the rise of 'medible' marijuana

For patients who can't smoke, businesses offer edible alternatives

Nikki Dugas of Fresh Republic fills packets of Honey Hit at the company s grow operation in Boulder. The product uses medicinal oil to infuse honey with marijuana, part of a growing number of 'medibles' available to medical marijuana patients in Boulder.
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MARTY CAIVANO
)

In a long-empty Gunbarrel warehouse that used to house a bottler of pharmaceutical-grade water, the manufacturers of Keef Cola blend carbonated water, cane sugar, natural flavors and THC extracted through a proprietary process about which company officials are both proud and closed.

The operation looks remarkably similar to that of a small microbrewery -- though the smell in the facility is sharp and herbal, rather than yeasty and hoppy.

"It's just really nice to have something for patients that's beneficial to their condition, without worrying about negatively impacting their lungs," said Colin Mudd, a sales consultant with Keef Cola who left a job at a dispensary to join the start-up because he believes so much in the product.

From sodas and energy drinks to peanut butter packets and ice cream, edible marijuana -- "medibles," to use the industry term -- has come a long way from the days of the humble pot brownie.

Along with the growth of the medical marijuana industry in Colorado has come the rise of industrial-scale production of marijuana-based foods and beverages, including several companies based in Boulder County.

Thanks to lobbying from within the industry, last year's medical marijuana regulations included a provision for the manufacture of infused products, formally recognizing a sector whose legality -- outside of unregulated home kitchens -- wasn't clear.

Critics question the need to blend food and medicine -- there are, after all, no cough-syrup sodas, no Vicodin cookies -- as well as the lack of oversight. No one conducts health inspections of the state's several hundred infused product manufacturing facilities.

Some Colorado law enforcement groups have raised concerns about edible products after a number of young children were hospitalized after accidentally consuming pot cookies and candy. There also have been incidents in Denver, Westminster and Pueblo schools in which teenagers took pot food products from relatives and sold them to classmates.

"The problem with edibles is they often are manufactured and put together to look like something else," said Jim Gerhardt, legislative liaison with the Colorado Drug Investigator's Association and a sergeant with the North Metro Drug Task Force. "There's no way to tell the difference between a pot brownie and a regular brownie."

Going mainstream

But in a sign of the continuing mainstreaming of medical marijuana, Rep. Cindy Acree, an Aurora Republican, was forced by political reality to back off from an effort this legislative session to ban all edibles. ("The bill as written wouldn't have made it out of committee," she said last week.)

Proponents of infused products say they are a life-saver for people who cannot smoke because of medical conditions or simply don't want to smoke. And some conditions, such as Crohn's disease, respond better to marijuana that's ingested, they say.

Nikki Dugas, a Boulder woman who learned she had Crohn's disease as she worked to build her medibles company, Fresh Republic, said the day she was diagnosed with the sometimes debilitating digestive ailment was "the happiest day of my life" because she knew marijuana -- particularly edibles -- would help her.

"The doctors had been recommending that I take steroids and immunosuppressants for the rest of my life," she said. "For a 28-year-old woman, that was a terrifying prospect."

Today she lives mostly sympton-free, she said.

Acree is now working on amendments that would restrict marketing based off of mainstream products ("Ohwee-Ohs" that look like Oreos, Canna-Cola written in the distinctive Coca-Cola script, "Potter Pops" frozen treats in plastic sheaths) and require a more medicinal look, along with child-proof packaging and stricter labeling requirements. She expects to introduce new language later this month.

Growing industry

But it appears that marijuana food and beverages are here to stay.

No one tracks sales of edibles or infused products, but manufacturers say their market research indicates between 10 and 15 percent of dispensary sales in Colorado are of edible or infused products.

From left, Kelly Knutson, Randy Hadden-Good and Andy Veron stand in front of their Keef Cola products at their production facility in Gunbarrel.
(
Jeremy Papasso
)

Dispensary owners say there tend to be two types of edibles customers -- those who grab a piece or two of candy as they're buying bulk marijuana and those who only buy edibles. Those in the latter group often are older and don't have experience with smoking recreationally.

According to city sales tax information, marijuana-related businesses in Boulder did $16.7 million in sales last year.

The city has issued 13 infused product licenses out of a total of 115 marijuana-related business licenses, though it's not clear whether all of the licenses are active.

And out of 2,376 marijuana license applications filed with the state, 321 are for infused product manufacturing, accounting for 13 percent of all applications. (Actual licenses won't be issued until July.)

Many of the licenses belong to dispensaries that produce their own tinctures or oils, but don't make other edible products. Yet a whole host of companies dedicated just to wholesale edibles have sprouted up around the state and in Boulder.

While Boulder's more relaxed attitude toward marijuana has made it a center of cultivation activity along the Front Range, the city actually is underrepresented in the edibles market. That's because Denver's medical marijuana ordinance says edibles sold in the city have to be made there, though the law is not always enforced. Just in case, many edibles manufacturers have chosen to open their kitchens in Denver.

Staying in Boulder

Keef Cola, started by a group of friends and business associates with strong Boulder ties, decided to stay here. Keef wasn't the first marijuana soda on the market, but the group believed they could make a better product.

They collect testimonials from satisfied customers who talk about how Keef Cola, full of vitamins and minerals, as well as THC, eased their symptoms so they could do more chemotherapy or finally get free of prescription painkillers.

Andy Veron, director of sales at Keef Cola, said the company started out with just 10 milligrams of THC in the sodas, a dose that medical research indicates should be adequate. But Keef found that customers didn't believe it was working if they didn't feel even a little bit high, so the company increased the dosage.

This reverse placebo effect is well known to edibles manufacturers, who sometimes don't want to be too successful at masking the bitter taste of marijuana, lest customers don't believe it's there.

Keef Cola officials, though, brag that they've managed to completely hide the flavor in their regular strength sodas and that it's minimal in the extra strength soda.

Keef Vice President Kelly Knutson said getting their product in dispensaries was an uphill battle at first, but they're now in 308 marijuana centers around the state.

"It was very much a hard sell in the beginning," he said. "We had to convince them that the medicinals are edibles. That's really where the medicinal aspect is. But we're starting to gain ground."

Keeping consistent

Like many edibles manufacturers, Dugas, the Crohn's disease sufferer, comes from a gourmet food background. She moved to Boulder in 2009 to start Fresh Republic with her sister, but she still owns a gourmet popcorn company in Austin, Texas.

Fresh Republic produces a line of peanut butter and a line of "Honey Hits" that are sold in small foil packets and which can be spread on toast or dissolved in tea, as well as THC-infused coconut oil capsules -- basically pot in a pill.

The website of Boulder Kind Care, a dispensary, offers this testimonial: "One BKC employee was feeling under the weather recently, so she slipped some Honey Hit into her cup of hot tea, and it really helped her get through the day. It soothed her sore throat, calmed her headache, added honey sweetness and even gave her a little boost of energy. A much better choice for the body than DayQuil!"

Like many edibles manufacturers, Dugas said the biggest challenge is maintaining consistency in the quality and the dosing. Fresh Republic tests its oils and concentrates so it can guarantee accurate dosing.

Epic Cure, also in Boulder, makes teas, hard candies, energy drinks, capsules and baked goods (despite the competition, the pot brownie is still alive and well).

The company prides itself on its "THC transparency," or accurate dosing, and offers lots of bite-sized products that don't pack too many calories.

"Edibles are more advantageous than combustibles for a lot of reasons," Epic Cure CFO K.J. McQueen said. "There's no harm to the lungs or the vascular system. Even someone who doesn't use medical marijuana should understand you don't take away the ability of people to consume without combusting."

Word of mouth

Dan Boden, a budtender at Boulder Kind Care, said his company collected more than 50 testimonials from customers who use edibles and sent them to the Colorado General Assembly when it was still considering an edibles ban.

He tends to recommend edibles to patients who don't want to smoke, to those weaning themselves off powerful cocktails of pain medications that can do damage to the digestive tract and to patients who want low-level but long-lasting relief.

Edibles also are more discreet, he said, allowing patients to consume without the tell-tale scent of marijuana smoke in their homes or on their clothes.

"The companies are getting better and better, honing their flavors and their dosing," he said. "It's really coming along."

Overblown fears

Boden said fears of kids consuming edible marijuana are overblown.

"They contain ingredients that, frankly, do not taste good at all," he said. "And it's a controlled substance. It's the responsibility of the patient to keep it in a safe place, just like with prescription drugs."

Knutson, of Keef Cola, said he expects Keef will end up ditching its art deco-inspired labels in favor of something more sober and plain. While not aimed at kids, the image is, he acknowledges, "more recreational, not medicinal."

But after investing tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and marketing, he's not planning on going anywhere.

"We've followed the rules," he said. "We hope (the state) stands up to its end of the deal. They licensed us."

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